Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The San Francisco 49ers apparently prefer to win with defense as opposed to offense. No move made that more clear than the acquisition of cornerback Eric Wright from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 2014 conditional draft-pick. Despite the question marks at the wide receiver position, head coach Jim Harbaugh still elects to load up on defense, especially at the defensive back position.
Wright is now the fifth cornerback on the roster after the waiving Lowell Rowe. He will be competing for playing time against Carlos Rogers, Nnamdi Asomugha, Tarell Brown, and Chris Culliver. The benefits to adding Wright are to add depth to the secondary and making sure there is quality coverage in nickel and potential dime package situations. It is a smart pickup by the 49ers’ organization because the NFC West has wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, Percy Harvin of the Seattle Seahawks and rookie Tavon Austin of the St. Louis Rams. All three are threats on the outside.
All five cornerbacks could start for any franchise in the NFL. But unfortunately, there can only be two starting cornerbacks for the 49ers. However, there is a possibility that all five would not play cornerback. Veteran Asomugha started his career as a safety for the Oakland Raiders. San Francisco selected safety Eric Reid in the first round of the draft this year after losing Dashon Goldson to the Buccaneers in free agency. There is no word on how Reid is progressing this offseason, but having Asomugha play safety will add depth to the position.
John Ware is a San Francisco 49ers writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @OutermindMedia, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+
